Method of producing cinematographic titles, headlines, announcements, and the like



March 11, 1930. J. J. F. STOCK ET AL 1,749,961

METHOD OF PRODUCING CINEMATOGRAPHIC TITLES, HEADLINES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 19. 1927 sm imw J3 0 Attorneys Inventor-s Patented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES J'OHANN JACOB FRIEDRICH STOCK,

OF MUNICH, AND PAUL EFFING, F BERLIN,

GERMANY METHOD OF PRODUCING- CINEMATOGRAPHIC TITLES, HEADLINES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND THE LIKE Application filed March 19, 1927, Serial No. 176,752, and in Germany March 20, 1926.

The production of film titles, headlines, casts, announcements and the like, for cinemato raphic displays has always been very troublesome and time-consuming as well as '5" costly. According to the known methods, the titles are printed on a special printing press which must be attended by experienced printers or composers. Apart from the high costs of such proceedings, this method of producing film texts is accompanied by se rious technical disadvantages because the printed matter lacks considerably in depth and plastic appearance and therefore is not well suited for photographic reproduction.

The photographs which are subsequently ob tained require much touching-up and the method in general afi'ords little opportunity for artistic development.

All these disadvantages are successfully overcome by the, method embodying this invention by which titles, casts, announcements, and the like, such as are required in cinematographic display, may be quickly composed and properly photographed without special skill on the part of the attendant. According tothe method of this invention the photographs produced require practically no touching-up, while the cumbersome printing process with its elaborate machinery and auxiliaries is rendered obsolete.

The invention makes use of certain devices which are not new per se but are already known and used in shop window advertising, namely the so-called quick-change, sign boards, which according to the claimed method are with or without ornamental frames or the like to obtain the aforesaid technical and economical advantages.

In order to avoid the aforesaid disadvantages incident to the methods of printing the film texts heretofore followed, it has been proposed to compose the words by single letters printed upon cards and to eventually reproduce the text so obtained photographically or by cinematograph directly. However, apart from the fact that these cards soon become smudged and therefore useless,

great disadvantages result from shadows and gaps forming between the cards which can not be avoided.

According to this invention, cut-out or stamped letters, signs and symbols are used, which are arranged and held upon a ground plate or sign board in any known or convenient manner, as for example by means of small tongues adapted to engage in slots of the board, or by magnetic forces, or otherwise. Magnetic forces, ifemployed, may be created by the employment of a number of electro-magnets arranged behind the ground plate, or by permanent magnetism of the ground plate or of the letters, which in such case must be made of steel. Photographing of the matter so composed may then be carried out under incident or reflected light or I under transmitted light. The outline or appearance of the matter or film announcement so produced may be agreeably intensified with novel effect by spreading layers of sand, chalk, pearls, tinsel or the like in the spaces between the individual letters or signs. If

a highly plastic appearance of the text is desired, a background of mouldable substance may be arranged in the spaces between the signs.

If the letters or signs are desired to be photographed under transmitted light, they are formed as transparent slides or panes and applied in substantially known manner to the front of a casing within which a number so of lamps is provided. Transparent signs for the purpose of composing cinematographic texts have already been used, but hitherto they were arranged only in open frames and the lighting effects were insuflicient. Neither these signs nor the aforementioned cards have ever been adopted in practice.

An additional advantage rests in the fact that film titles and other scriptive matter may be produced as new articles of manufacture; the said texts being produced sepa' rate from the films to which they refer and to which they are eventually applied by being pasted or otherwise attached in any known or convenient manner. 7

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example, several modifications of de vices by means of which the new process may be carried out.

Fig. 1 illustrates a device for use under incident or reflected light.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section therethrough.

Fig. 8 shows in front and side elevation, a letter adapted for use ,with the device referred to.

Fig. 4 represents a modified form of the ilewi'lice for use with artificial or transmitted ig. 5 is a transverse section through the same.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic representation similar to Fig. 4 of a device in which the letters or si are held to the ground plate by means ma etic forces.

Referring to .1 and 2, the groundplate or sign boar a embodies a number of stri s or slats 6 preferably covered with cloth or t e like.v The letters, signs or symbols 0 of which the text is to be composed are provided with ton es d by means of which they may be attache in substantially known manner to the si board; the said tongues being inserted into the slots between the stri s b. In this way any desired text may be composed.

P oto phing a film text which has been compose lty the said loose letter or sign arent, is preferably carried out from above, whereb the board a may be placed upon a table low the camera. The composed matter may be lighted directly from above or by reflection at any suitable angle according to the efl'ect which it is desired to produce. In order to prevent the slots between the bars 6 being visible in the photograph, a layer of owder or granulated material may be app ied in the spaces between the lettering, such as colored or uncolored sand, chalk, ound glass, tinsel, plastic mass, or the e, and if special omamentations or effects are desired, these layers may be formed or moulded with representations of designs as for example trade marks, ornaments, and the like. Tobe able properly to align the letters and signs it is advisable to provide scale markings e along the frame of the sign board, or to align the letters by means of a screen of strings or wires temporarily placed over the sign-board.

From the matter so composed, a photographic or cinematographic negative is produced in known manner, as said above, and from this negative the usual cinematographic exposures or copies are taken in the required number of film pictures. If desired, the plate which is to be used for the production of the negative may be faintly exposed with some pictorial representation, for example an enlarged film picture illustrative of the text words, in which way the interruption of the picture sequence in the film action as caused by the ap arance of the text will become less distur ing.

Figs. 4 and illustrate an arrangement with sheet metal case f within WhlCh are contained a number of electric lamps g and which, at its front, is provided with H- shaped guides it, into which trans arent panes i carryin the requisite signs, etters, or words, are s 1d from the side of the box. The spaces between words and sentences are formed by blank panes k, while the joints between adjacent panes are covered-up b means of distance pieces or cover strips Exposure for the purpose of producing the photographic negative may be taken from above or, in view of the transmitted light, in any other way.

The modification illustrated in Fi 6 also contains a ground plate 112. which, in t is case, is assumed to be made of metal and arranged over a box 0 containing a number of electromagnets n. The letters and signs may be substantially of the form shown in Fi 8; and are likewise made of metal or, at east, must have an iron base. Their disposition upon the ground plate can be facilitated by turning off the current to the electro-magnets. The said arrangement may, of course, be reversed inasmuch as instead of providin a magnetic ground plate, an ordinary so iron plate may be used and the letters and signs made to act as permanent steel magnets. Similar arrangements have been used as si boards for advertising purposes, whereas or the production of film titles, headlines, casts, cinematograph announcements and the like these devices have not heretofore been u in spite of the very important technical and economical advantages obtainable.

Instead of using a metallic ound plate, one made of insulating materiifi (glass, vulcanite, enamel, and others) may be used and non-magnetic iron letters and signs held to the same by means of electro-magnets arranged behind the ound plate in the manner represented in ig. 6.

The described new method of cinematoaphic letter composition is of course not restricted to the various forms of known devices shown in the drawing, as other known or novel devices may be used which would allow composing the text of loose letters or si in the manner set forth, and so to obtam the desired cinematographic representations without the use of a rinting press or other complicated device 0 the kind.

What we claim is 1. The method of producing cinematograph titles, headlines, announcements and the like, which consists in arran 'ng a plurality of loose and individually firmed letters upon a ground-plate so as to compose the desired text, tem orarily fixing the letters in position on the p ate, faintly photographing a pictorial representation on a photographic plate or cinematographic film subsequently exposing the plate or film to photograph the ters of magnetically responsive material upon a ground-plate so as to compose the desired text, holding the letters to the plate by magnetic forces, applying to the plate between and around the letters thereon a layer of material providing a back ground, photographing the matter so composed with back ground, and cinematographically roducing a number of film pictures from the photov graphic or cinematographic negative of the matter. I

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

JOHANN JACOB FRIEDRICH STOCK. PAUL EFFING. 

